Having breakfast but still feeling extremely tired at work or school? A nutritionist breaks down common breakfast "landmines" that cause high blood sugar and recommends 3 stable blood sugar combinations. She also teaches a golden formula to easily assemble an energizing breakfast.
Nutritionist Wang Yuk-ching pointed out on her Facebook page that she often hears friends ask why they feel unusually tired or even sleepy as soon as they sit down at work after breakfast. The answer is simple: when you eat highly refined carbohydrates paired with sugary drinks, your blood sugar spikes rapidly, then crashes just as fast. This dramatic fluctuation in blood sugar is the culprit behind running out of energy and your brain feeling foggy first thing in the morning. Want to start your day in a high-efficiency, long-lasting work mode? She shares the following guide for high-blood-sugar and stable-blood-sugar breakfasts:
High Blood Sugar Breakfasts (Landmines):
- Milk Tea + Jam Toast: Refined jam is packed with sugar, paired with iced milk tea containing high saturated fat and chemical non-dairy creamer. This breakfast severely lacks protein, causing blood sugar to spike directly after eating.
- Teppan Noodles + Sweet Black Tea: The oily noodles mixed with high-sodium sauce are already a super starch bomb. Adding a cup of sweet black tea filled with refined sugar places an enormous burden on the body.
- Ham and Egg Sandwich: Don't assume having egg and meat makes it healthy. The white toast slathered with mayonnaise, plus the ham (an overly processed meat), not only offers no health benefits but provides excessive sodium and chemical additives.
Stable Blood Sugar Breakfasts:
- Unsweetened Soy Milk + Egg Pancake Roll (Dan Bing), Light on Sauce: Unsweetened soy milk provides sufficient high-quality plant protein, while the egg pancake roll offers moderate carbohydrates. Remember to ask the vendor to use less or no sauce for easy blood sugar stability.
- Whole Wheat Toast with Pork Loin and Egg + Lettuce: Whole wheat toast is rich in dietary fiber. Paired with freshly pan-fried pork loin, egg, and crisp lettuce – rich in fiber and protein – this is a perfect energy-boosting combination.
- Sweet Potato + Tea Egg + Unsweetened Beverage: If you're in a hurry and buying breakfast from a convenience store, this is the ideal combination. The sweet potato (a whole-food, coarse starch) paired with a tea egg (high-quality protein) and an unsweetened green tea or American coffee instantly boosts your body's metabolic capacity.
2 Tips for Choosing Breakfast: The Golden Formula for Stable Blood Sugar
Wang also lists two essential tips for choosing breakfast to help you stay energized all day:
- Remember the Golden Formula: Coarse starch + High-quality protein + Dietary fiber. When ordering, first check if the meal has protein (e.g., eggs, soy milk, or fresh meat). With protein as the foundation, your blood sugar won't spike suddenly.
- Beware of the Sauce Trap: Common breakfast sauces, such as sweet chili sauce or thick soy paste, often hide extremely high amounts of sugar and sodium. When ordering, ask for no sauce or have the sauce served on the side for dipping. This naturally reduces the burden.
What Blood Sugar Level is Too High? Watch for 8 Early Signs of Diabetes
According to the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder. It occurs when insulin secretion by the pancreas is insufficient, or when insulin cannot function properly, causing blood sugar to rise abnormally, leading to diabetes. Type 2 diabetes accounts for over 90% of all cases and is mainly related to poor diet, obesity, and lack of exercise. Body cells become resistant to insulin, unable to effectively absorb and utilize glucose, causing excess sugar to accumulate in the blood.
High blood sugar can lead to metabolic disorders of fats and proteins and, over time, cause damage to multiple body systems and organs, including the cardiovascular system, retina, nerves, and kidneys.
According to the American Diabetes Association's recommendations:
- Impaired Fasting Glucose: Fasting blood sugar between ≥5.6 mmol/L and <7 mmol/L.
- Impaired Glucose Tolerance: 2-hour post-meal blood sugar between ≥7.8 mmol/L and <11.1 mmol/L.
- Both Impaired Fasting Glucose and Impaired Glucose Tolerance are considered prediabetes.
- Diabetes: Fasting blood sugar ≥7 mmol/L, or 2-hour post-meal blood sugar >11.1 mmol/L.
Early Symptoms of Diabetes:
Some patients may experience the following early symptoms:
- Frequent thirst
- Frequent urination
- Feeling hungry
- Weight loss
- Easy fatigue
- Blurred vision
- Slow-healing wounds
- Skin itching (women may experience genital itching)
Source: Nutritionist Wang Yuk-ching, Hospital Authority (Hong Kong)
